Laterally collapsible pessary



13, 1953 T. YOUNG 2,625,154

LATERALLY- AoLLAPsIBLr: PEssARY Filed June 10, 419.48

'Iliff/lll 7770/7705 You/7g A T TOR/VE YJ Patented Jan. 13, 1953 COLLAPSIBLE PES'SARY Thomas Young, New- York, N. Y., assignor to Durex Products, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., incorporation of New York Application .timeA 1o, 194s, seriaiNo. 32,089

5 claims. (ci. 12a-127) This invention relates to pessaries, and is applicable alike topeSs'aries of the occlusive diaf phra'g'rntype and tov pessaries-of the open ring type- 'Ifhe present invention isv in the nature ofan improvement upon the invention disclosed and claimed in my copending applicationHSer-ial No. 613,131, led August 28, 19,45., for` Pessaries, now Patent No. 2,443,943.

In said application disclosure is made o V a pessary having a rim which comprises a pair of vmanually deformable but normally rigid core segments, spaced from each other to provide bending zfones, an endless 'helical spring enclosing the cores, and a molded rim member of sof-tresient material enclosing the spring vand the core seg ments. rIChe construction referred to isa practical and advantageous one Iand has provedsuccessful commercially. i

Ihave found, however, that it is unnecessary to extend the helical spring completely around the rim of the pessary, and that'the elimination of` the core-surrounding spring has a number of advantages such as reduction of expense and reduction of Weight and bulk.

In accordance with certainforms of the, presen t invention, core segxrientsV are provided in alternation. withu flexible members, the ilexible members 'bei-ng disposed inrend to end relation with the c ore members and being desirably of substantie-Mythe sam-ev external diameter as the core members. With this kind of arrangeinentY the reduction in the amount off metallic material employed considerably reduces ithe'- weight of the construction. The rubbe-rrim member'which encloses the core segments and thespringmembers'can 'be made smaller than heretofore if desired, or the reduction of bulk of thecore segments and the iiexible menib'ersmayI be taken advantage of to provide a thicker walled, more cushioning enclosing rimmember.

In accordance with some forms ofthe invention the flexible membersv consist of metallic springs inserted between thel core segments and disposed in end to end relation to the latter.

In accordance with onelform of the invention the core members are made hollow and; the core. members are secured in end to end relation with metallic springs by means of inserted pins.

In accordance with a second form of construction hollow core members are secured by means of inserted pins in end to rend, relation with exible hollo v members which may or mayv not be of resilient material. If the flexible members are non-resilient, the moldedl enclosing member, which is resilient, is made of sufficient wall thicknessto causethe pessary when collapsedand releasedin service to recover its normal shape.

Ina third form of the inventionsolid core segments exible' spacers 'aredisposed in end to, end.v 'relation and are permanently enclosed and retained in end-toendrelation bythe molded resilient rim member. f

In a fourth form of the invention thereis neither aV helical spring` employed nora 'flexible spacer between the'core segments. 'Ihecoresegments are secured in fixed space vrelatior'ishipwithin a vrelatively massive molded resilient. rim

member, the latter member being vulcanized to the core segments.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear. l

In the drawing formingfpart of thisspecifica tion Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an occlusive dii-a-A phragm pessary embodyingvfeaturesl of the present invention, parts being broken away to reveal more clearly the internal construction;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view-showing. another form of construction which embodies features of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing stil1 another form of construction;

Fig. 4 is a ViewY similar tov Fig. 2 showing a fourth form of constructioii';l 'andl Fig. 5 is a View 'similar 'tofFi'ga 2v showing a ith form yof construction.

Referring iirst `to l there isshown a pessary It including a membrane ITI of rubber or other suitable flexible resilient impermeable material, and a marginal vrim memberIZ` Whose outer portion is of the. same material. The rim member I2 may be off anyA desired shape, butI it is illustratedl as circular because the various desirable shapes are well known, and such Varia tions form no part of the presentinvention.

The rim portion I2 includes a; pair of wire-iinserts or core segments I3 which aie'spaced-'aparft at their ends, the spacing beingintroduced!soy that bending zonesv may bel'formedfbetween the adjacent ends ofthe Ycore segments. Each-core* segment I3: includes a reduced endportion I-4` which may. be formed integral withthessegment.

Metallic coil springs I5, desirablysofithe same external diameter as the core segments I3, receivethe pins I4. withintheir hollowendsa Thez pins I4 may belarge enough to t snuglyl into theV ends I5 so as to hold the core segmentsandl the springs securely in` assembled end to vend relation, Whetheror not the partsfare securely joinedinf- -dependently of the` molded, surrounding merriber` I6, the latter member encloses and' coniivneslthel parts so as to retain themagainstrelativelshit ing and may, if desired), be vulcanized. tothe. metallic parts.

With the pessary constructedasdescribed,.the rim can, if desired, be made ofA less external. diameter than in former constructions. 'Inuthose instances where a reduction in diameteujis not particularlyv to` be desired, .the molded member may .be made with tliicl;er,` vllzaflls..than,inlpriorl construct ichs so: asfoprovidesa .more complete cushioning effect. The structure employs considerably less metal and is considerably lighter than prior devices.

In the construction described, the resiliency of the bending zones is attributable in part to the metallic springs l and in part to the enclosing molded material.

In Fig. 2 the construction in general bears a close resemblance to that of Fig. 1. The occlusive pessary fragmentarily illustrated comprises core members 13a which, While generally similar to the core members i3 of Fig. l, are shown as of hollow construction throughout. These core members have pins Ida driven into their ends. The protruding ends of thepins are inserted in the ends of exible tubular members ld which take the place of the springs i5 of Fig. l. The sleeve members a may be made resilient or not as desired but they are definitely of a flexible material. They may consist of rubber tubing, or, for example, of tubing formed of rubberized fabric. An enclosing rim member ia similar to the rim member IS of Fig. 1 is provided. If the sleeve members I5a are of non-resilient material, the walls of the resilient enclosing rim member I6a are made thicker to provide a desired resiliency.

Still another form of occlusive pessary generally like the disclosures of Figs. 1 and 2 is fragmentarily shown in Fig. 3. In this forni parts |313, Mb and l6b are the same as parts 13a, Ma and 16a of Fig. 2. A coil spring |522 similar to the spring l5 of Fig. l is employed in the manner already described in connection with Fig. 1.

In Fig. 4 a. fragmentary disclosure is made oi still another form of occlusive pessary. The core members may be hollow, or they may be solid metallic members the same as the members i3 of Fig. 1 except that the reduced end portions I4 of Fig. lare omitted. Solid flexible members 15C are interposed in end to end relation with the core members |36. A molded resilient enclosing rim member i is provided as in the other illustrations. In this form of construction the rim member 16e is relied on exclusively for holding the parts in their assembled relationships.

In Fig. 5 solid metallic core members i3d are provided with open spaces between their ends.

A relatively massive molded enclosing resilient rim member d is provided, this member having sufficient body and resiliency to cause the rim member to spring back to its normal shape when it is collapsed and released in service.

While occlusive pessaries have been described in connection with each of the figures it will be ,appreciated that the diaphragrm portions i l, l la,

yl lb, Hc and Hd, can be omitted in the various :illustrated forms wherever simple ring pessaries are desired. In all instances the soft resilient portion of the rim can be made of rubber and can be vulcanized to the metallic parts. Vulcanization is particularly desirable, however, in connection with the form of construction illustrated in Fig. 5.

I have described what I believe to be the best embodiments of my invention. I do not wish, however, to be confined to the embodiments shown, but what I desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A'pessary comprising, in combination, a pair of core segments each of rigid but manually pliable material so that the pessary is adapted to be manually shaped and will hold its shape, exible members arranged in alternate relation with the core segments to provide bending zones, said members being secured in end to end relation .to the core segments, and a continuous, integral molded rim member of uniformly soft resilient material enclosing and fitting directly against the core segments and the flexible members throughout substantially its entire length.

2. A pessary comprising, in combination, a pair of core segments each of rigid but manually pliable material so that the pessary is adapted to be manually shaped and Will hold its shape, coil springs arranged in alternate relation with the core segments to provide bending zones, said springs being secured in end to end relation to the core segments, and a molded rim member of soft resilient material enclosing and fitting directly against the core segments and the coil springs throughout substantially its entire length.

3. A pessary comprising, in combination, a pair of core segments each of rigid but manually pliable material so that the pessary is adapted to be manually shaped and will hold its shape, each core member having reduced end portions at the opposite ends thereof, coil springs disposed between the core segments, and having their end portions surrounding the reduced end portions of the cores and spacing said end portions substantially from one another, the springs providing bending zones between the core segments, and a molded rim member of soft resilient material which encloses and ts directly against the core segments and the springs throughout substantially its entire length and confines them in substantially end to end rel-ation.

4. A pessary comprising, in combination, a pair of core segments each of rigid but manually pliable material so that the pessary is adapted to be manually shaped and will hold its shape, a pair of exible members of substantially the same cross section as the core segments disposed in alternation and in end to end relation with the core segments, and means for retaining the core segments and flexible members in substantially end toend relation comprising a. continuous, integral molded rim member of soft resilient material throughout which encloses and ts directly against the core segments and the exible members throughout substantially its entire length.

5. A pessary comprising, in combination, a pair of hollow core segments each of rigid but manually pliable material so that the pessary is adapted to be manually shaped and will hold its shape, hollow exible members disposed in alternation with the core segments and in end to end relation thereto, connecting pins disposed within the hollow core segments and the flexible members and spanning the joints between them, and a continuous, integral, molded rim member of soft resilient material throughout enclosing and tting the core segments and the iiexible members.

THOM'AS YOUNG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,926,518 Findley Sept.-12, 1933 1,949,863 Hay Mar. 6, 1934 2,123,148 Findley July 5, 1938 2,443,943 Young June 22, 1948 2,475,071 Young July 5, 1949 

